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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. net — after costs
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. court — of law
  9. court — of a king
  10. tube — the underground
  11. lie — to recline
  12. mine — for digging
  13. court — for sport
  14. tube — a container
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — child
  18. net — in sport
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. dip — to sink
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. net — for catching

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com